Ballymun affordable housing won’t be built until late 2025 at the earliest

The delays in delivering affordable housing schemes in Ballymun is causing a backlog of people needing new homes, a local councillor has said.

Independent councillor for Ballymun and Finglas Noeleen Reilly was speaking following this month’s Dublin City Council meeting.

“In December 2021, councillors in Dublin Northwest received a presentation regarding two new affordable purchase schemes in Ballymun,” she said.

“We were advised that expressions of interests and details of the scheme would be sought early in 2022 for 206 homes.

“There was huge interest in these homes from people in Ballymun who like many are struggling to get on the property ladder, stuck paying colossal rents or living in overcrowded situations with their parents.

“Not only that but one of the key objectives of the Ballymun regeneration was to increase the amount of home ownership in the area given the high percentage of social housing.”

However, further progress on these schemes has not been communicated to councillors, Reilly says.

“Here we are in September 2022 and still no details of the schemes have been announced, while costs for building have increased dramatically meaning some people will not be able to afford these homes,” she says.

In response to a question table by Reilly at city council meeting, the local authority said that it was “progressing” the two projects and the “current scheduled completion date for the two schemes in question is late 2025/ early 2026.

“It should be noted that a separate application process will apply for each affordable purchase scheme.

“Unsuccessful applicants will not automatically be included in subsequent affordable purchase schemes,” it said.

It is understood that applicants will only be able to apply for a home in these developments in 2023 at the earliest.

“I cannot see why there is such delays,” Reilly says.

“The affordable housing scheme is in place; Dublin City Council own the land but are telling me it will now be 2023 before the schemes are advertised.

“These schemes represent a real chance for local Ballymun people to own their own home.

“The longer we leave it the higher the prices will be, and it will be come less viable.”

Reilly says that more urgency is needed to solve the housing problem in north west Dublin.

“These schemes need to be advertised to the public immediately,” she says.